Highland Captive by Hannah Howell Page B

bit.” Lachlan moved to look out the window. “I am
also paying only part of it.”
    “Which
part?” Leith whispered, yet dreading the answer for he suspected it would hurt
Aimil.
    “Yours.”
    For
a moment Aimil did not believe what she had heard. “Am I not to be ransomed?”
    “Not
now. The cost is too high.” Lachlan kept his back to her.
    “When?”
she asked in a small voice, not afraid to stay with Parlan but deeply hurt by
her father’s actions.
    “I
dinnae ken.”
    Knowing
she was going to cry, she bolted from the room. Blinded to the startled looks
that came her way, she raced through the keep and headed for the stables. She
collapsed on the hay near Elfking and wept.
    Her
father had ignored her for years, but this was worse. To leave her in the hands
of her captors was a blatant indication of how little she mattered to him. He
could not know how she was treated. Even if he did, he was not so blind that he
did not see the threat to her chastity, to the honor of the Mengue name. It was
plain to see that he cared nothing for her, not even that she carried his name.
    “Ye
are a hard bastard,” Lagan growled before the door had even shut behind Aimil.
    “Enough,
Lagan. Follow the girl. Be sure she is all right.” Parlan stared at Lachlan
after Lagan had left. “He is right, for all that.”
    “I
havenae the funds to ransom both of them. The heir is more important than the
youngest daughter.” Lachlan eyed the Black Parlan with little friendliness. “Ye
wouldnae take my word that the money will come and let me take both away now.”
    “There
is no doubt in my mind that your word is good, but I want the coin in my hand
before I release either of them.”
    “Aye,
so I thought. I will bring the money for the lad in a fortnight. I cannae say
yet when I will buy back the girl.” He paused at the door. “I trust her in your
care. She must not come to harm.”
    “I
have said that the girl willnae be hurt whilst she is in my care.”
    “Curse
his eyes,” Leith hissed after his father had left.
    “All
is not as it seems,” Parlan said. “The man does care for the girl.”
    Leith
stared at Parlan as if he had lost all his senses. “How can ye think that after
what he has just done? The choice to be made was not the heir over the maid but
the maid first for she is most at risk.”
    “I
saw his face when she first came into his sight. Something else holds him back
from revealing his love. There is a reason for the way he acts. I intend to
find out what it is. I ken it isnae a simple one. Rest, Leith,” he said as he
too left the room.
    Parlan
found Lagan and Malcolm lurking outside the stables. “Where has the lass fled
to?”
    “She
is inside with that beast of hers,” replied Malcolm. “We werenae sure whether
to leave her be.”
    “I
will see to her. See if our guests have any needs. They intend to leave come
the dawn. Also, see that I am left alone with her.”
    Aimil
knew he was there even before he sat down and took her into his arms. It did
not seem strange to seek comfort in the arms of the Black Parlan who was her
captor and should have been her enemy. He was a strong solid haven, one that
she needed.
    Parlan
lay back on the straw with her held firmly in his arms. It puzzled him that he
should feel such a strong need to ease her pain. Even stranger was that her
pain seemed to be his. He was sharing it whether he wanted to or not.
    “Ye
are fair close to drowning me, lassie,” he grumbled, hoping that he could tease
her out of her grief.
    “I
dinnae cry verra much.” She sniffed loudly as she fought to control her tears. “‘Tis
a weak thing to do.”
    “Och,
weel, ye have a good reason for them. There isnae any faulting ye for this. Are
ye afraid to stay here?” he murmured.
    “Nay.
Not now, that is. That could change if ye start roaring and stomping about,”
she said, and smiled against his chest.
    Rolling
so that she was beneath him, he feigned a glare when he saw her impish,